


golden hour

by verity



Category: Thaw - Sath
Genre: Established Relationship, Frottage, Painting, Shapeshifting, tfw ur pet fox says draw me like one of ur french girls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:55:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26133025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verity/pseuds/verity
Summary: One night at the very end of summer found Cai Qixiu at his little table, reading again the last letter he'd received from his teacher. He found that he didn't miss the city so much after all, but he did miss his scholarly pursuits. The books he'd been able to carry away with him were all old favorites, read so many times that he could nearly recite them by heart. Running his eyes across the page was merely a meditative act. His teacher's news—dryly-writ gossip—was light at best, but Cai Qixiu took pleasure in this simpler food.When he looked up, he found Xiao Hong sprawled across the couch, human and entirely bare.
Relationships: Male Tang Dynasty Scholar/Male Hulijing
Comments: 7
Kudos: 40





	golden hour

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sath](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sath/gifts), [acernor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/acernor/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Thaw](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24137875) by [Sath](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sath/pseuds/Sath). 



> Fic for Sath's original story Thaw, which you should go read first - it's short and extremely delightful! 
> 
> I wrote this a few months ago for Sath and acernor, the best gc anyone could ask for. A tip of the hat also to straightforwardly, whose exchange request inspired Thaw.

Cai Qixiu spent what felt like an endless summer of afternoons in the shade, but of course there was no such thing. The days began to shorten and the nights to turn crisp. The grass on the mountains was still green, but soon, it would be autumn. The falling leaves would mark a whole year of life he hadn't expected to see.

A whole year since he found a little wounded fox at his door.

Silk was hard to come by, so he was forced to ration out his pieces over the year. Each portrait he painted of Xiao Hong was precious, impossible to part with. Sometimes Cai Qixiu paired them with verse, though his lines were little more than doggerel. Xiao Hong couldn't read. He wouldn't know.

One night at the very end of summer found Cai Qixiu at his little table, reading again the last letter he'd received from his teacher. He found that he didn't miss the city so much after all, but he did miss his scholarly pursuits. The books he'd been able to carry away with him were all old favorites, read so many times that he could nearly recite them by heart. Running his eyes across the page was merely a meditative act. His teacher's news—dryly-writ gossip—was light at best, but Cai Qixiu took pleasure in this simpler food.

When he looked up, he found Xiao Hong sprawled across the couch, human and entirely bare.

"Xiao Hong," Cai Qixiu said, plaintively.

Ah, what was the point in coaxing his fox into clothes? Xiao Hong hardly cared for them—and if Cai Qixiu was honest with himself, he didn't mind the loss either. It was only that each time he looked at Xiao Hong naked, his ears went hot, and his cheeks went hot, and his hands shook. Once, he'd trembled with fear for his yang energy. Now he was more worried about an imbalance in the other direction.

"Qixiu," Xiao Hong said in that low voice of his. "You never struggle to look at my other form. Would you paint me like this?

Fortunately, Cai Qixiu wasn't holding anything more precious than his teacher's letter. It fell from his senseless fingers onto the table. "I—is that what you desire?"

Xiao Hong smiled and said nothing. He was on his belly, half-turned to look at Cai Qixiu with his head propped up on one hand. The other, which had been by his chest, skimmed down his side and caught on the jut of his hip. He lifted his leg, shifting on his side, and then Cai Qixiu had to close his eyes. His mind felt like it was about to fall out of his head. Xiao Hong had taken him just this morning, and yet he was still like this?

"Yes," Cai Qixiu said as he scooted himself back from the table unseeing. "Yes, of course, if that is what my beloved wishes."

Then he really did have to run away to get his paints. Of all the things to say, and at a time like this! He pulled out the pieces of silk he had left and inspected them frantically. What if he destroyed the work in his excitement? Or—even worse—Xiao Hong wanted to keep it? Cai Qixiu couldn't decide. He took a piece at random and returned to the table. If he was sweating, it was the waning heat of the day. He had to keep his composure.

Then Cai Qixiu lit the lamps and found that the room had been getting dark, after all, because he had entirely missed what Xiao Hong had chosen to lie on. Cai Qixiu thought he'd tucked the fox-fur-trimmed cape away, but here it was, right under his fox. Who was posing as artfully as he had all summer, except now he was— he was—

"Is there something wrong?" Xiao Hong said softly.

If Cai Qixiu had been bolder on any matter that did not touch corruption or malfeasance, he might have admitted that he would rather be looking with his hands than painting with them. As it was, he merely returned Xiao Hong's smile nervously. "Not at all. I only hope that I can do your figure justice."

"I surrender myself to Qixiu's capable gaze."

Must he put it like that? 

Cai Qixiu forced himself to settle his eyes on Xiao Hong. Perhaps if he looked at all of Xiao Hong parts in isolation, it would be easier than trying to take in the whole. No, only a moment's contemplation was required to show that wasn't the solution. Why was Xiao Hong so beautiful and so—large?

He ground rather too much pigment to buy time.

Xiao Hong stretched, one foot dragging down the length of the couch to catch on the hem of the cloak, the arch of his foot so sensual that Cai Qixiu quickly moved his eyes up Xiao Hong's long frame. His calves and thighs were slender but muscled, his ass like jade, his back like—

When Cai Qixiu laid down the very first stroke, he already knew that the painting would be utterly ruined. He tried his best. Cai Qixiu drew the sinuous curve of Xiao Hong's back in a single, perfect stroke, and arrayed the rest of the painting around that success with increasing despair. Looking at Xiao Hong for so long was impossible to do with an artist's eye.

Even Xiao Hong's sigh was beautiful, as gentle and welcome as a summer breeze. "Qixiu, set down your brush. I have need of you."

"I can finish," Cai Qixiu said with determination.

Xiao Hong's eyes were half-lidded. He moved out of his pose to fully reveal himself, hard and flushed. Unlike Cai Qixiu, he was perfectly capable of communicating with his body alone.

Cai Qixiu did not feel very in control of his body just at this moment. He managed to lay down his brush and the painting without getting paint on anything or smudging the silk beyond repair, although such an accident would have been an act of mercy. Then he crawled to the couch on his knees. There was no point in pretending that he had any dignity whatsoever. 

"What do you need?" he said when he was kneeling before Xiao Hong. "What do you want?"

Xiao Hong reached out and tugged at Cai Qixiu's collar, his fingers brushing against Cai Qixiu's throat. The touch made Cai Qixiu's dick throb so fervently that he nearly fell forward against the couch. "You don't need these."

Divesting himself of his clothes was a challenge. Cai Qixiu managed it, although his elbow got stuck in a bunched sleeve for a moment. If only he could remove his own clothes as attractively as Xiao Hong. The only thing that kept Cai Qixiu's confidence afloat was the way Xiao Hong wrapped his hand around his own dick as he watched, dragging his fist over the shaft. He let go for a moment to lick his palm while Cai Qixiu was struggling with the ties of his pants.

"Do you want me to just—watch?" Cai Qixiu shoved his pants down over his hips.

Xiao Hong shook his head. "Come up here."

The couch was narrow, and so hard Cai Qixiu's knees would have ached were it not for the cloak spread over it. He climbed over Xiao Hong and lay over him, sliding a leg between Xiao Hong's and letting their feet tangle together. Cai Qixiu had forgotten to remove his socks. He forgot them again as soon as his dick slid against Xiao Hong's. "Ah," he said, helpless.

Xiao Hong kissed Cai Qixiu as he moved against him. His hands wandered over Cai Qixiu's back, his hips, his tender sides, and then down to firmly cup his ass and rock them together. Cai Qixiu scrambled for purchase, fingers curling in the soft fabric of the cloak and skidding against the couch. So much for looking with his hands. Cai Qixiu felt as he often did, like he was just a prey animal held gently in Xiao Hong's jaws, except that what Xiao Hong was holding was his penis.

At this moment, Xiao Hong was not literally holding his dick. He was clutching the two of them together so close that Cai Qixiu couldn't think. Finally, he settled his hands on Xiao Hong's shoulders and tucked his face against Xiao Hong's throat. "Xiao Hong—" Cai Qixiu didn't even know what he wanted to ask for. He was so turned on that his body was beyond his control, blunt nails digging into Xiao Hong's shoulders, cheek seeking comfort against the inhumanly delicate skin of Xiao Hong's shoulder. Cai Qixiu came in long shudders as his dick skidded against Xiao Hong's. 

Xiao Hong thrust into the mess of Cai Qixiu's release for another minute before he found his satisfaction. His strong arms tightened around Cai Qixiu's shoulders as his back arched, his breaths quickened, and his eyes closed tightly. Cai Qixiu kissed Xiao Hong and wondered how Cai Qixiu, of all people, could bring him such pleasure.

* * *

Afterward, Xiao Hong wiped them off with the much-abused cloak. Was he so jealous of another animal on his territory that he had to resort to his? Cai Qixiu was too sleepy and relaxed to ask. He watched Xiao Hong put too much tea in the strainer and pour boiling water onto the leaves without any censure, and watched some more as Xiao Hong carefully oversteeped them into something barely drinkable. Xiao Hong was still naked. If Cai Qixiu looked closely, he could see the little scars the arrow had left behind on Xiao Hong's back.

"Thank you," Cai Qixiu said as he accepted the cup of tea Xiao Hong offered him.

Xiao Hong kissed him quickly. "I thank Qixiu," he said, and then, picking the discarded painting off the table, "I'll treasure this forever."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm [@regretsonmain](https://twitter.com/regretsonmain) on twitter!


End file.
